Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Florida International
@HerdMSoccer Falls 1-0 in C-USA Championship
11/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
CHARLOTTE, N.C.. - The Marshall men's soccer team lost 1-0 Sunday after a 75th minute header helped the FIU Panthers to win the Conference USA championship at Transamerica Field in Charlotte.
FIU provided plenty of pressure in the first half, with 11 shots to Marshall's three. The Panthers also forced Herd goalkeeper Dominik Reining (Frankfurt, Germany) into five saves.
In the second half, Marshall continued defending well on the top scoring team in Conference USA well into the half. The Panthers were able to take advantage on a corner kick in the 74th minute, with Patrick Lopez rising to meet a header from 10 yards out. The header went to the top of the net on the left side, giving Lopez his third goal of the season and the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
Marshall junior Rimario Gordon (Kingston, Jamaica) helped to lead the Herd attack all tournament, scoring both of the Herd's goals in the run to the championship game. Gordon came the closest for the Herd against the Panthers, with the only shot on goal. In the 84th minute, senior Nick Edginton (Wellington, New Zealand) found Gordon in the box with a header from six yards out. Gordon's ensuing header was well placed, but the FIU keeper Arthur Clapot was there to make the save.
From there, FIU held Marshall and won the match.
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Marshall had three players, Gordon, Reining and junior defender Arthur Duchesne (Piegut Pluviers, France) were named to the Conference USA All-Tournament team.
C-USA MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Daniel Gonzalez, FIU - Offensive MVP
Arthur Clapot, FIU - Defensive MVP
Marvin Hezel, FIU
Patrick Lopez, FIU
Dominik Reining, Marshall
Arthur Duchesne, Marshall
Rimario Gordon, Marshall
Charlie Reymann, Kentucky
Kristofffer Tollefsen, Kentucky
Tor Nyboe, South Carolina
Kurtis Turner, South Carolina
THE GRAY AREA
Marshall coach Bob Gray on the match:
"Extremely proud of the boys today. We played our hearts out and came up a bit short, but we even had a big chance to equalize there at the end I thought, which shows just how committed we were. Take nothing away from FIU, they are a great side and one of the best in the league offensively."
"It was an incredible run for our team these last three weeks. It goes to show what happens when you never quit and keep battling. I'd been saying earlier this season that we weren't playing our best soccer, but we sure played it over these last seven games."
"It hurt us when Trevor (Starcher) went down early in the first half today. I thought it gave us much less depth in the midfield, but we still had our chances,"
"This just shows how strong our conference is. I think Charlotte, Kentucky and South Carolina should join FIU in the NCAA tournament and we sure are excited to host the Conference USA Tournament this time next year."
#BEHERD
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